It's only the first Saturday of October, but this weekend could make or break the season for several teams with national title aspirations. The country's elite teams spent most of September feasting on sacrificial lambs, but that's about to change in a hurry.

This week's schedule boasts five matchups between ranked opponents, including two clashes between Top 10 teams, two that pair up teams separated by three spots or less in the standings, and one - Georgia at South Carolina - that falls into both categories.

• ESPN.com's college football bloggers, on the other hand, have West Virginia taking out Texas by a field goal. They also expect Texas Tech to upset No. 17 Oklahoma, and their SEC writers both like South Carolina to get the better of Georgia.

What Texas has seen and what it is coming to accept is that it cannot stop Smith. He is going to get his. So far this season, that has meant about 478 total yards of offense per game, an average of five touchdown passes per game and at least four pass plays of 20 or more yards per game.

• LSU, which looked vulnerable in limping to a 38-22 win over Towson last week, will need to clean up its act to fend off No. 10 Florida this week. Quarterback Zach Mettenberger and the Tigers know they won't have any margin for error playing in front of the rabid fans in The Swamp, reports Jim Kleinpeter if the New Orleans Times Picayune:

LSU Coach Les Miles is confident Mettenberger is ready to handle what The Swamp dishes out. Because LSU is blessed with a deep and talented roster, Mettenberger isn't in a position of having to win games for the Tigers.

The reason is that both quarterbacks -- the Buckeyes' Braxton Miller and the Cornhuskers' Taylor Martinez -- have been so outstanding so far this season. And it's hard to imagine either team winning without a great performance from their star signal-caller.

The question with Smith isn't whether he'll post Heisman-worthy numbers. It's whether those ridiculous numbers can continue to make up for West Virginia's defensive deficiencies and keep the Mountaineers from dropping games that could hurt his case.

Smith is so far ahead of his quarterback competition that it's a one-man Heisman Trophy discussion right now. His current passer rating is 208.4, far exceeding the NCAA record of 191.7 Russell Wilson set last season. The quarterback Smith will compete with Saturday, Texas' David Ash, is a distant second nationally at 184.

• But for those players looking to climb back into the race, CBSSports.com's Chris Huston writes, Saturday's marquee matchups present the perfect opportunity:

If anyone is to challenge Geno Smith's status as the Heisman favorite, it probably starts with a big performance this weekend. There just aren't too many chances to make this kind of impression, so each contender must strike while the iron is hot.

Odds and Ends

• As if it's not enough to dominate college football, No. 1 Alabama is now apparently saving the lives of celebrities. Scott Stapp, lead singer of the rock band Creed, attributes his survival from a suicide attempt in part to his appreciation for the Crimson Tide. AL.com has details of Stapp's account of the incident, in which he says rapper T.I. - who is apparently also an Alabama football fan - came to his aid after Stapp jumped from a hotel balcony:

As I'm laying on the ledge, blood fell to [T.I.'s] feet and he looked up and he had an Alabama hat on. I said, 'roll tide,' and then he looked at me and put two and two together and really saved my life."

FILE - This Aug. 6, 2012 file photo shows hurdler Lolo Jones competing in a women's 100-meter hurdles heat at at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London. Jones trash-talked about head injuries to former Rutgers football player Eric LeGrand, Tuesday, Oct. 2, 2012, after he jokingly challenged her to a race on Twitter. Jones didn't know the defensive tackle was paralyzed in a game. (AP Photo/Anja Niedringhaus, File)

"Get Checked for a concussion. Clearly, u've been hit in the head... Cos u arnt beating a track athlete."

Jones later tweeted an apology, explaining that she was initially unaware of LeGrand's injury.

• And while we're on the subject of Twitter, here's another example of what not to say on social media. Ohio State's freshman quarterback Cardale Jones decided to publicly question the need for a college education while simultaneously demonstrating - through his horrific grammar if nothing else - exactly why it might be good for him to get one:

"Why should we have to go to class if we came here to play FOOTBALL, we ain't come to play SCHOOL, classes are POINTLESS"

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